Two words or phrases are each divided into two pieces; then
their second pieces are switched to form two others. Example: ONE
= maids, TWO = rapture, THREE = mature, FOUR =
rapids. (This would appear in the
solutions list as “ma/ids, rap/ture.”)

DOUBLE-CROSS (8, 5, 4, *9) (*9 = NI2)

With a slim, steely ONE,
The foul deed was done;
The client was given the sack.
From offstage, a noble
Sang “Woman is mobile.”
So-who could FOUR have on his back?

A dread hunch had he
When he felt the sack THREE:
Of what burden was he the carrier?
Gilda set up a din
(TWO had not yet set in)
And bade FOUR farewell with an aria.

=Pen Gwyn

The solution: ONE = stiletto, TWO =
rigor, THREE = stir, FOUR = Rigoletto. (This
would appear as “sti/letto, rigo/r.”)

The enumeration of all four parts of a double-cross is
given.

When composing or solving a double-cross, be careful not to
mix up THREE and FOUR: note that ONE and THREE have the same
beginning, as do TWO and FOUR.

In a phonetic double-cross, the
parts are rearranged phonetically and not by spelling. For
example: ONE = Hall of Fame, TWO =
gurneys, THREE = Holofernes, FOUR = game.

In a reversed double-cross, after
switching the second pieces of ONE and TWO, you reverse the
results to get THREE and FOUR. For example: ONE = red rover, TWO = Erebus, THREE
= suborder, FOUR = revere. (This would appear as “red ro/ver,
Ere/bus.”)

Based on an idea by Stilicho, the double-cross was introduced
by Nightowl at the 1980 convention.

A trans-cross is similar to a
double-cross, but the pieces of the word
switch AB, CD, AC, BD. For example: ONE = seal, TWO = rely, THREE =
sere, FOUR = ally.

TRANS-CROSS (*3-*5, 6, 8, 6) (TEAS, EH, TEE, ASH)

Sing a song of sixpence, a koan rather wry:
EH of ASH arranged on a Zen master’s pie.
When he saw his pizza had four-and-twenty birds,
He had the TEE assemble, and said some angry words
(In some Tibeto-Burman tongue, or Tai, or TEAS;
They all were South-East Asian-they weren’t
Japanese).
“Within this monastery,” he said, and waved his
bat,
“‘Make me one with everything’ does not
refer to that.”

The Big Three at Yalta were having a luncheon
When TWO looked as though he’d been hit by a
truncheon.
He wrinkled his nose and said, “Open the door!
It smells like there’s something beginning to
FOUR.
Was my spinach soufflé left all day in the sun?
Did a skunk wander in? Oh, good lord, it’s the
ONE.
Sir, would you please not stand THREE? Go away;
Return to the cellar, and take your . . .
bouquet.”

=Lunch Boy

The solution: ONE = wine steward, TWO =
FDR, THREE = windward, FOUR = fester. (This
would appear in the solution list as “win(e ste)ward,
F(D)R”.)

A change of heart is similar to a double-cross, except that the pieces that are
switched come from the middles of the ONE and TWO rather than the
ends. Note that as in a double-cross, ONE and THREE have the same
beginnings, as do TWO and FOUR. (See also the heart transplant.)

In a heart transplant, a letter or
series of letters is taken from inside one word and transplanted
to another. Example: ONE = clear, TWO =
wild, THREE = car,
FOUR = willed (transplanting the
LE).

HEART TRANSPLANT (11, 7, 9, 5 4)

After the ONEing of the voting districts,
one district suddenly had a surfeit of
voters
who were very fond of plant flats.
That’s
How we ended up with a representative who
filibusters by yelling things like “This
bill
will have a deleterious effect
on the
TWO, an aromatic
herb of the
carrot family, as well as on the
THREE, that member of the
mint family with a
prominent
nose!”
Good Lord,
He can really get FOURed.

=Xemu and Lunch Boy

The solution: ONE = gerrymander, TWO =
caraway, THREE = germander, FOUR = carry
away.

Two words (THREE and FOUR) are joined; then one word (ONE) is
dropped out to form another (TWO) from the leftover letters. For
example: THREE = reamer, FOUR =
itch, ONE = merit,
TWO = reach.

DROPOUT (8, 6, 7, 7)

Wolfgang the poet endured his Salieri,
A bitter old green-eyes -- Wolf had to be wary --
Who TWO all his sonnets, each ONE and canzone,
Compared his ballade to a ripe provolone,
Who’d THREE Wolf’s whole gang with improbable
rumors
And poison-pen letters that sprouted like tumors.
But Wolfgang the poet showed great perseverance:
FOUR dirt from his drafts, kept a seemly appearance.
Perseverance thus furthers the cause of the poet,
And silly Salieri has just cause to know it.

=Qaqaq and Sibyl

The solution: ONE = rondelet, TWO =
envied, THREE = environ, FOUR = deleted. (This
would appear as “envi(ron, delet)ed.”)

The enumeration of all four parts must be given.

In a progressive dropout, three or
more words or phrases are nested (ONE always innermost) to form
two others. For example: ONE = ach, TWO =
aviator, THREE = latrine, FOUR = La Traviata,
FIVE = chorine. (This would appear as
“La Tr[aviat(a, ch)or]ine.”)

The dropout, introduced by Nightowl in 1984, is actually
identical to one type of the progressive padlock. But the
progressive dropout is unique.